“Any Open Cup game is going to be tough,” said right back Eric Avila. “We’re both trying to obviously advance to the next round and they’re going to be coming out and trying to prove themselves as well.

“We take this tournament seriously. We want to move on to the next round and that’s what we’re going to do. Our mindset is to win the game.”

Avila is not the only returner from last year’s squad that saw their cup run cut short in Cary, N.C. Center back Bobby Burling will be among the team’s most experienced players for the Goats when it comes to Open Cup play. In his second stint with the Rebaño Angelino, Burling and his teammates will look to have a solid run in the tournament and lead the club to its third appearance in the Semifinals.

Step number one: Get past a RailHawks squad that will surely be in search of a repeat performance against a Major League Soccer side, which guided them to the Quarterfinals in 2013.

“We know that it’s a game we would like to win,” said Burling. “Anytime you can get a chance to play in any type of a tournament we take it very seriously.

“It’s about depth and about being focused on the task at hand, which is a game we would like to win, and it’s part of a tournament in which we would like to advance in.”

Chivas arrived in North Carolina on Thursday and were able to get adjusted to the time zone change with one training session ahead of Saturday’s showdown. Waiting in the wings for a potential Fifth-Round clash are two very familiar opponents. The winner of Saturday’s contest will then face the winner of the LA Galaxy-Arizona United FC match. The Goats have already battled the Galaxy twice during the Regular Season and came away with a four-goal shutout in Peoria over the USL PRO club last month.

The unknown factor remains Carolina, as the Red-and-White defense will have to wait until kickoff to find out if the RailHawks are the same high-tempo scoring threat of a year ago.

The Fourth-Round match is scheduled to kick off at 5 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live via stream by visiting here. For more information and updates follow the club on Twitter and Facebook.